There's no re-writing a baby



After feedback from my agent, I’m starting re-writes for A Good Death. It’s a daunting task. I’m discarding some chapters completely and changing the focus of others to make the final section more effective. Getting rid of what is not working is a cathartic process and the changes are necessary to get it closer to being published. There is no guarantee of getting it completely right this time and my experience of re-writing and editing Wild Rose tells me that there will be more changes to make in the future. This is certainly not the easiest or most enjoyable aspects of the writing process, but it is one of the most satisfying.

The second half of A Good Death: one chapter per Post-it



The gradual development of the book could be compared to the slow formation of the baby, but this is one way the book and the baby differ. There are no re-writes with a baby. Our baby’s genetic material is fixed. In fact, the egg that led to our baby was made before I was even born. As much as I might hope that the baby inherits David’s strong teeth and my eyesight, we have no control over what the baby will be like. On the simplest level, it will still be weeks before we learn if it is a boy or a girl.

Not being able to re-write your baby is a good thing, of course. We will accept and love our baby for who they will be. But quite apart from that, if we could make changes to our baby before it was born, I couldn’t cope with the responsibility of deciding what they would be like. How could I know what they would need or what would make them happiest in life? And how could David and I, who can’t agree what colour of sofa covering would look best, agree what our child should be like?

While I do re-writes for the book, I’m glad that the baby is developing secretly and with minimal input from us.





Empty chapters waiting for a decision